Magisterium Is Concerned with Question of Evolution for It Involves Conception of Man

Message delivered to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences 22 October 1996

To
the members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, in plenary assembly:

It is with great pleasure that I send my cordial greetings to you, Mr. President, and
to all of you who constitute the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, on the occasion of your
plenary assembly. I send my particular best wishes to the new members of the Academy, who
come to take part in your work for the first time. I also wish to recall the members who
have died in the course of the past year; I entrust them to the Maker of all life.

1. In celebrating the 60th anniversary of the re-foundation of the Academy, it gives me
pleasure to recall the intentions of my predecessor, Pius XI, who wished to bring together
around him a chosen group of scholars who could, working with complete freedom, inform the
Holy See about the developments in scientific research and thus provide aid for
reflections.

To those whom he enjoyed calling the Scientific Senate of the Church, he asked simply
this: that they serve the truth. That is the same invitation which I renew today, with the
certainty that we can all draw profit from "the fruitfulness of frank dialogue
between the Church and science." (Discourse to the Academy of Sciences, October 28,
1986, #1)

2. I am delighted with the first theme which you have chosen: the origin of life and
evolutionan essential theme of lively interest to the Church, since Revelation
contains some of its own teachings concerning the nature and origins of man. How should
the conclusions reached by the diverse scientific disciplines be brought together with
those contained in the message of Revelation? And if at first glance these views seem to
clash with each other, where should we look for a solution? We know that the truth cannot
contradict the truth. (Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus) However, in order better to
understand historical reality, your research into the relationships between the Church and
the scientific community between the 16th and 18th centuries will have a great deal of
importance.

In the course of this plenary session, you will be undertaking a "reflection on
science in the shadow of the third millennium," and beginning to determine the
principal problems which the sciences face, which have an influence on the future of
humanity. By your efforts, you will mark out the path toward solutions which will benefit
all of the human community. In the domain of nature, both living and inanimate, the
evolution of science and its applications gives rise to new inquiries. The Church will be
better able to expand her work insofar as we understand the essential aspects of these new
developments. Thus, following her specific mission, the Church will be able to offer the
criteria by which we may discern the moral behavior to which all men are called, in view
of their integral salvation.

3. Before offering a few more specific reflections on the theme of the origin of life
and evolution, I would remind you that the magisterium of the Church has already made some
pronouncements on these matters, within her own proper sphere of competence. I will cite
two such interventions here.

In his encyclical Humani Generis (1950), my predecessor Pius XII has already
affirmed that there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of the faith
regarding man and his vocation, provided that we do not lose sight of certain fixed
points.

For my part, when I received the participants in the plenary assembly of your Academy
on October 31, 1992, I used the occasionand the example of Gallileoto draw
attention to the necessity of using a rigorous hermeneutical approach in seeking a
concrete interpretation of the inspired texts. It is important to set proper limits to the
understanding of Scripture, excluding any unseasonable interpretations which would make it
mean something which it is not intended to mean. In order to mark out the limits of their
own proper fields, theologians and those working on the exegesis of the Scripture need to
be well informed regarding the results of the latest scientific research.

4. Taking into account the scientific research of the era, and also the proper
requirements of theology, the encyclical Humani Generis treated the doctrine of
"evolutionism" as a serious hypothesis, worthy of investigation and serious
study, alongside the opposite hypothesis. Pius XII added two methodological conditions for
this study: one could not adopt this opinion as if it were a certain and demonstrable
doctrine, and one could not totally set aside the teaching Revelation on the relevant
questions. He also set out the conditions on which this opinion would be compatible with
the Christian faitha point to which I shall return.

Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of that encyclical, some new
findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an
hypothesis.* In fact it is remarkable that this theory has had progressively greater
influence on the spirit of researchers, following a series of discoveries in different
scholarly disciplines. The convergence in the results of these independent
studieswhich was neither planned nor soughtconstitutes in itself a significant
argument in favor of the theory.

What is the significance of a theory such as this one? To open this question is to
enter into the field of epistemology. A theory is a meta-scientific elaboration, which is
distinct from, but in harmony with, the results of observation. With the help of such a
theory a group of data and independent facts can be related to one another and interpreted
in one comprehensive explanation. The theory proves its validity by the measure to which
it can be verified. It is constantly being tested against the facts; when it can no longer
explain these facts, it shows its limits and its lack of usefulness, and it must be
revised.

Moreover, the elaboration of a theory such as that of evolution, while obedient to the
need for consistency with the observed data, must also involve importing some ideas from
the philosophy of nature.

And to tell the truth, rather than speaking about the theory of evolution, it is more
accurate to speak of the theories of evolution. The use of the plural is required
herein part because of the diversity of explanations regarding the mechanism of
evolution, and in part because of the diversity of philosophies involved. There are
materialist and reductionist theories, as well as spiritualist theories. Here the final
judgment is within the competence of philosophy and, beyond that, of theology.

5. The magisterium of the Church takes a direct interest in the question of evolution,
because it touches on the conception of man, whom Revelation tells us is created in the
image and likeness of God. The conciliar constitution Gaudium et Spes has given us a
magnificent exposition of this doctrine, which is one of the essential elements of
Christian thought. The Council recalled that "man is the only creature on earth that
God wanted for its own sake." In other words, the human person cannot be subordinated
as a means to an end, or as an instrument of either the species or the society; he has a
value of his own. He is a person. By this intelligence and his will, he is capable of
entering into relationship, of communion, of solidarity, of the gift of himself to others
like himself. St. Thomas observed that man's resemblance to God resides especially in his
speculative intellect, because his relationship with the object of his knowledge is like
God's relationship with his creation. (Summa Theologica I-II, q 3, a 5, ad 1) But
even beyond that, man is called to enter into a loving relationship with God himself, a
relationship which will find its full expression at the end of time, in eternity. Within
the mystery of the risen Christ the full grandeur of this vocation is revealed to us. (Gaudium
et Spes, 22) It is by virtue of his eternal soul that the whole person, including his
body, possesses such great dignity. Pius XII underlined the essential point: if the origin
of the human body comes through living matter which existed previously, the spiritual soul
is created directly by God ("animas enim a Deo immediate creari catholica fides non
retimere iubet"). (Humani Generis)

As a result, the theories of evolution which, because of the philosophies which inspire
them, regard the spirit either as emerging from the forces of living matter, or as a
simple epiphenomenon of that matter, are incompatible with the truth about man. They are
therefore unable to serve as the basis for the dignity of the human person.

6. With man, we find ourselves facing a different ontological orderan ontological
leap, we could say. But in posing such a great ontological discontinuity, are we not
breaking up the physical continuity which seems to be the main line of research about
evolution in the fields of physics and chemistry? An appreciation for the different
methods used in different fields of scholarship allows us to bring together two points of
view which at first might seem irreconcilable. The sciences of observation describe and
measure, with ever greater precision, the many manifestations of life, and write them down
along the time-line. The moment of passage into the spiritual realm is not something that
can be observed in this wayalthough we can nevertheless discern, through
experimental research, a series of very valuable signs of what is specifically human life.
But the experience of metaphysical knowledge, of self-consciousness and self-awareness, of
moral conscience, of liberty, or of aesthetic and religious experiencethese must be
analyzed through philosophical reflection, while theology seeks to clarify the ultimate
meaning of the Creator's designs.

7. In closing, I would like to call to mind the Gospel truth which can shed a greater
light on your researches into the origins and the development of living matter. The Bible,
in fact, bears an extraordinary message about life. It shows us life, as it characterizes
the highest forms of existence, with a vision of wisdom. That vision guided me in writing
the encyclical which I have consecrated to the respect for human life and which I have
entitled precisely The Gospel of Life.

It is significant that in the Gospel of St. John, life refers to that divine light
which Christ brings to us. We are called to enter into eternal life, which is to say the
eternity of divine beatitude.

To set us on guard against the grave temptations which face us, our Lord cites the
great words of Deuteronomy: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that
comes from the mouth of God." (Deut 8:3; Mt 4:4)

Even more, life is one of the most beautiful titles which the Bible gives to God; he is
the living God.

With a full heart, I invoke upon all of you, and all to whom you are close, an
abundance of divine blessings.

From the Vatican, October 22, 1996, John Paul II

EWTN Note on translation:
The English edition at first translated the French original as: "Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of that encyclical, some new
findings lead us toward the recognition of more than one hypothesis within the theory of
evolution." The L'Osservatore Romano English Edition subsequently
amended the text to that given in the body of the message above, citing
the translation of the other language editions as its reason. It should
be noted that an hypothesis is the preliminary stage of the scientific
method and the Pope's statement suggests nothing more than that science
has progressed beyond that stage. This is certainly true with respect to
cosmological evolution (the physical universe), whose science both Pius
XII and John Paul II have praised, but not true in biology, about
which the popes have generally issued cautions (as above and Humani
Generis). [CBD] Return